WWE commentator Renee Young recently made some interesting comments during Corey Graves‘ After The Bell podcast. Renee was the first ever full time Women’s commentator on WWE programming back in 2019. The podcast show is part of WWE’s official podcast lineup in conjunction with Endeavour audio.

During Young’s interview with Graves he mentioned how she was now back in her ‘wheelhouse’ with her new role as the host of WWE Backstage on FS1.

“You know what, this is so simple,” said Young. “I think that I do best when I’m allowed to laugh at stuff and make things fun. I felt like I was not really able to do that as much on commentary. So to be back in a studio setting and just talk about wrestling as a fan. That’s something that couldn’t come across when I was on commentary. Now I can shoot the sh*t with Booker [T], we’ve got Paige on there, we’ve got Punk. I like to be able to talk not in soundbytes. That’s really the thing here.”

Renee Young “truly just being [herself] with no filter”

Renee then discussed how she found it difficult to adapt to the commentary booth on Monday nights. “I come from being on camera far more than just doing audio stuff. And even just sitting calling a match and trying to find the right spots to get in…and also just trying to ‘be myself,’ whatever that meant in that capacity. I feel like now doing [WWE] Backstage I am truly just being myself with no filter, no being ‘produced’ and whatnot. That makes me very happy.”

Second-Guessing Herself

Renee Young also added that she has her confidence back and is no longer second guessing herself. “When the commentary thing came up I was like ‘hell yeah I’ll try it.’ I think that I could find a way to try and make something work. But it’s definitely nice to not have to second guess myself anymore. I felt like I was second guessing myself on commentary all the time. Now I’m just like ‘cool I know what I’m doing.’ My confidence is back up at 100, it’s a world of difference.”

Renee Young co-hossts WWE Backstage Tuesday nights on Fox Sports 1.

Renee Young recently spoke with TV Insider to promote WWE Backstage on FS1.

In the interview, Young, who serves as the host of the weekly television show, was asked about possible WWE ring return for CM Punk, who works as an analyst on WWE Backstage. 

“We’re going to have to poke the bear because that is what everybody wants,” she said. “Still to this day, every arena we go in with WWE chants his name. Everybody wants to see CM Punk back in the ring. Does he want to come back in the ring? I truly don’t know. It seems like a never say never situation. I don’t foresee it happening in the near future.”

Jim Ross Comments On WWE Management Hating CM Punk

This week’s show features Punk’s second appearance on the show. Although Punk isn’t under contract with WWE and hasn’t followed the product since his departure in 2014, Young thinks he will become more comfortable about being around the WWE surroundings again.

Young talked about how her timeline he likened it to the frozen caveman coming back to life and him checking out wrestling again. She noted how fans have so much respect for Punk and to see him back in any capacity of the wrestling world is a huge win for everybody all around.

Young sees it as fun to have Punk get more comfortable in that spot as she is right there with him while he is dipping his toe back into the world. 

She noted that she’s looking forward to hearing his perspective and share that on television. Young added that anything that strays from that would be a misstep as they want that unfiltered Punk on our show.

Jon Moxley recently spoke with 101WKQX’s Kevin Kellam in Chicago where he discussed his latest match that aired on a pay-per-view presented by AEW. 

He beat Kenny Omega in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match that took place at the AEW Full Gear PPV. This contest saw them use everything from shatter glasses to barbed wire weapons. 

During the show, Moxley’s wife, Renee Young, made her feelings known about the match in a series of posts on Twitter. 

Moxley was asked how the conversation with Young went after the match, which he stated that she was “Over-dramatic, come on, like. it comes with the territory, you know what I mean? 

You sign the contract, we’re together forever and I will love you forever, but you’ve got to understand that if you’re one of my friends or loved ones, especially if you’re my wife, you’re going to deal with some moments where we things get a little cringey and weird.”

Jon Moxley Speculated To Return To NJPW For Wrestle Kingdom 14

Moxley stated that he tends to fly close to the flame sometimes not just in wrestling but life. He makes better decisions now compared to his poor decisions in his younger days. He stated that you’re going to have their moments as it’s part of a marriage. 

“I could roll my bike down a mountain tomorrow and break my neck, you know what I mean? These things are constantly on the precipice of happening.”

Young saw his comments and reacted by writing the following: 

Renee Young says that there is nothing weird about having her husband Jon Moxley working for another wrestling company. She spoke to the Sports Illustrated Media podcast recently about what things have been like at home since Moxley left WWE.

“It’s not weird at all. As soon as we’re both home and have a glass of wine, he has his Jack & Diet Coke and we just talk about wrestling,” she said. “We talk about what my day is like, what his day is like. It’s an interesting time for all of wrestling. I’m sure people would like to be flies on the wall of our room. There are some interesting conversations that have happened, that’s for sure.”

Young continued by saying that Jon Moxley eats, sleeps and breathes professional wrestling. Even when he’s at home, he can’t help but talk about the business. At times, Renee has to change the subject and can distract him by putting on a television show they both enjoy, “This is Us.”

“When you’re married to Jon Moxley, that man likes to talk about wrestling,” said Renee. “Sometimes I need to cleanse my pallet like, ‘Can we just put on ‘This Is Us’ and not talk about wrestling for a minute? That would be great.’ He’s a big ‘This Is Us’ fan. He is a layered man. There’s much behind those crazy eyes.”

The full conversation with Renee Young can be listened to through this link.

Young will be hosting the debut edition of WWE Backstage tonight on FS1 beginning at 11 PM est.

h/t Fightful for transcriptions

Former RAW commentary Renee Young has opened up about her time as a member of the announce team. During an interview with the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, Young referred to her time commentating as “disastrous.”

She confessed that she never felt truly comfortable in the role, which led her to have a stressful year as she attempted to learn and adjust. 

Reflecting on how the opportunity first came around, Young said “I needed something different to chew on. Cole and HHH pulled me aside and told me I was going to do commentary on RAW. I was like ‘What? Why? Who approved this?’ I was going to try and figure it out.”

Young explained that three hours of live television turned out to be quite an obstacle. She struggled to maintain her naturally bubbly personality throughout RAW’s runtime.

“Corey Graves is great at that,” she said. “I was used to being the ‘A’ person. It was odd trying to jump and talk about something that had already been said. I tried to come at it from a fan standpoint but that does not always work. I felt some misdirection about what my purpose was out there.”

She noted how it can be difficult to accept when you aren’t good at something, but knew it was important to realise that “It just wasn’t really working.” She has previously commented on receiving hate from people over her work and has addressed those who have been critical of her. 

WWE Backstage

Following the most recent WWE Draft, Young has been removed from the RAW announce team. She has been moved into a new position, hosting the Fs1 Studio show, WWE Backstage.

Young recently returned to commentary during last week’s Friday Night SmackDown. This was due to WWE’s travel issues leading to talent being stuck in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, Young would end up being hit in the face by a boot during her time covering announcing duties.

H/T to Wrestlezone for the transcription. 

Renee Young had an interesting night while calling Friday Night SmackDown. 

Young was on commentary alongside Tom Phillips and Pat McAfee because Michael Cole and Corey Graves were stuck in Saudi Arabia and forced to miss the show. 

The show, which was held in Buffalo, New York at the KeyBank Center on FOX, featured a women’s tag team match that was booked after Bayley retained her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross. 

• 5 Takeaways From WWE SmackDown (11/1)

The contest saw Rhea Ripley and Tegan Nox defeat Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in quick fashion. The finish of the match saw Rose be tapped out to Ripley’s Inverted Shamrock submission move. 

Right before the finish, Nox launched Deville over the commentary table towards Young. 

This is when Young ended up taking an accidental left foot to the face from Deville while Phillips and McAfee were able to avoid being struck. 

Young took to Twitter to react to the incident after Nox Nox apologized for causing Deville to essentially hit Young with a spinning heel kick. You can see the clip here: 

WWE needed to fly in several members of the NXT roster because the majority of SmackDown and RAW stars were stuck in Saudi Arabia while trying to make it back from the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event. 

WWE confirmed the long-rumored changes to the broadcast teams of both Raw and SmackDown yesterday, alongside the official announcement of its F1S studio show dubbed WWE Backstage.

Though the reports which have come out since then have provided some interesting updates on these announcements and they reveals that some of these arrangements might not be permanent.

As part of their announcement, WWE confirmed that Jerry Lawler will be returning to Raw for commentary, however, Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that the company only intends to use him for a short period of time.

Officials are considering other people to fulfil the position on a full-time basis. Speculation is that this is why Mickie James was featured on Main Event as one of the commentators this week, though this news is not confirmed.

The arrangement for the F1S studio show which is announced to be hosted by Booker T and Renee Young seems to be temporary as well.

According to report from PWinsider, a number of WWE Legends have been brought to Los Angeles to audition for a role on the show and the idea is to switch between these personalities on different weeks.

We can also see multi-person booths as Fox has played with different versions of the show ranging from panels of 3 to 5 people but nothing is locked yet.

Though one name who will be a staple for the show is Cathy Kelley. She is expected to be a big part of the program and Kelley will be splitting her time between NXT and the new series going forward.

As far as the production goes, the show will be pre-taped once a week and its set is made to look like it’s inside a wrestling ring with yellow ropes.

These changes are only the beginning of things and with the scheduled drafts, we can expect the rosters of both SmackDown and Raw to be shuffled in similar fashion as well.

Renee Young has opened up some more regarding criticism over her commentary work in WWE. 

Speaking with AMBY, Young admitted that, before her joining the commentary team, she hadn’t been prepared for that spot. She highlighted she “did it for a few months in NXT years ago” adding, “But prior to me filling in and taking over that role, like I wasn’t groomed for that spot.” Young stressed that, when it came to live commentary, she was “learning this entirely new skill on Monday Night RAW.”

“So it’s like, ‘Yeah, no pressure babe, go out there and crush it.’ So it’s cool,” she said. “There’s good days, there’s bad days, and I’m always open to learning. I’m always open to criticisms.” 

“You Can’t Take Everybody’s Opinions”

She spoke about the importance of being able to listen to negative feedback without being overwhelmed by the criticisms. 

“I think sometimes you have to be careful on like, how often you take those criticisms. Because everybody — like, even if it’s good, even if I go backstage after RAW and you run into five, ten different people who want to have an opinion on it, you can’t take everybody’s opinions,” Young explained. “You’ve gotta weed through that, and it’s just navigating those waters. But yeah, it’s nice to just sort of be honest with myself and be honest with other people. Because yeah man, I’m in a spot and trying to make the most of it.” 

The RAW commentator has previously responded to negative comments from fans via Twitter. She confessed she wasn’t sure whether she should respond to the message or not, citing her own insecurities with commentary. After responding, however, she was surprised at the reaction she got, saying that “just actually talking from my heart really got to people. So that was really cool.”

H/T to 411Mania.com for the transcription. 

Back in September, Renee Young was named as Jonathan Coachman’s full-time replacement on the RAW commentary team. Since that time, she’s been subject to criticism from fans online as others her position often are. Young took the time to fire back at her critics online recently.

It all started with Young making a comment about people tucking their ears into their baseball caps.

This ended up striking a chord with someone and led to criticism of Young’s performance on RAW.

Young would also comment on the difference between her role on Talking Smack and her position on the RAW commentary team.

“Well a lot of people say that but don’t realize that Talking Smack and raw commentary are completely different jobs,” Young Tweeted. “I’m a tv host and have been for a decade- so talking smack was my jam- commentary’s entirely different. Different skills.”

Superstars Come to Renee Young’s Defence

Several WWE Superstars and those associated with the wrestling business came to Young’s defence.

“Renee, seriously could never do what you do-you inspire all of us and we all love you and commend you for the job you do on live TV every single week!” Nikki Cross Tweeted to Renee.

Kurt Angle then showed his support for Renee:

Peyton Royce also offered up the following:

Somehow Don Callis got brought up in the discussion as well.

Charlotte Flair, Xavier Woods and EC3 and have since chimed in with support for Renee as well:

Renee Young has posted her first comments since news broke her husband, Dean Ambrose, will not be renewing his contract with the company in April.

Young posted the following supportive message to her husband, stating, “No guts, no glory.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtPGJBcBmG0/?utm_source=ig_embed

WWE Releases Statement On Dean Ambrose Not Renewing Contract

Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) will not be renewing his contract with WWE when it expires in April,” a WWE press release regarding Ambrose reads.

“We are grateful and appreciative of all that Dean has given to WWE and our fans. We wish him well and hope that one day Dean will return to WWE.”

Young commented last summer on how being in WWE effects her relationship with Dean Ambrose. She spoke about how being on Total Divas impacted her and Dean.

“It was hard, it was really hard and even now when I see the girls and they are on the road, and you’ve got a camera in your face, and you’re taking these vacations that aren’t really vacations, it’s exhausting, it’s really a lot of work,” Young said on Lillian Garcia’s podcast.

“I commend them all for doing it. For the people that it’s great for, its great for, but I think the problem that I essentially ran into was that I’m not a private person and my husband is.”

Undertaker Joins Twitter

Times are certainly changing for the professional wrestling world. Recently, The Undertaker joined Instagram. Now, it looks like “The Deadman” is on Twitter as well. Undertaker joined back on December 4th last month. However, his account didn’t get noticed and verified until this week. His first post read “Rest In Peace” along with a photo of himself in the ring:

Rest In Peace pic.twitter.com/qoDZ0vN0w9

— Undertaker (@undertaker) December 4, 2018

He was then welcomed to the Twitterverse by former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield:

Thanks Champ! ⚰️ https://t.co/rwj2p4zDrr

— Undertaker (@undertaker) January 12, 2019

Its been a few months since Undertaker appeared on WWE TV. He and his storyline brother, Kane, lost to D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) at WWE’s Crown Jewel event from Saudi Arabia in November. It remains unclear if the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion will return to compete at WrestleMania 35 in April.

Ambrose Saves Renee Young’s Phone During Match (Video)

This week, Dean Ambrose successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship on Monday Night RAW. He defeated Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match. During the match, Ambrose and Rollins fought near the announce table. Ambrose’s wife, Renee Young, serves as one-third of RAW’s announce team.

During his brawl with Rollins, Ambrose saves his wife’s phone during the brawl, tossing it to Michael Cole for safe keeping. Check it out here:

https://twitter.com/dirtyben49ers/status/1083911244095127552

Renee Young has opened up on doing commentary for the controversial WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium on the WWE Network.

Unlike the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in the country this past April, there was a female on-air talent working the broadcast. She joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves, which is the announce team for Monday Night RAW, on commentary for this latest event.

She reflected on the experience when she and Cole were recently interviewed on BBC Radio 5’s Live morning show. This led to her sharing what some of the fans in the country that attended the show told her at this event.

Young started off by saying that it was very cool to be a woman welcomed into Saudi Arabia to step into the announce booth and be part of the broadcast. She recounted that there were many men, women, children were coming up to her to let her known that this was a big moment of change and that there is a demand and a need for women to be performing in Saudi Arabia. She added, “They are asking for it, certainly.”

You can hear the audio of these comments here:

@POSTwrestling Michael cole and Renee young asked about Saudi Arabia on BBC radio this morning pic.twitter.com/UbbbjqYi5d

— Amit S (@DaStinga) November 5, 2018

Renee Young made history recently by becoming the WWE’s first ever full-time female commentator when she joined the RAW commentary team.

Turns out that she had a number of supporters backstage who were rallying for her success, one of whom was none other than Paul Heyman.

Speaking with Bleacher Report, Renee mentioned how Heyman had always been a vocal supporter of hers, ever since she first signed with the company back in October 2012.

“He’s had my back from the get-go,” she admitted. “He did not need to do that. For whatever reason, he [Heyman] and I have always been close when it comes to talking about being better and wanting to be the best.”

Young also revealed that Heyman gave her advice before her RAW commentary debut, remembering that “he just kind of gave me advice on how to be a little more succinct, how to create those little punchlines.”

“You’ve gotta think about what this is going to sound like in a video package,” Young elaborated. “Make sure you’re saying their name instead of he or she. Just little nuggets like that that you might forget. And I do forget. Sometimes, I might be out there and catch myself saying, ‘Oh, he just speared him’ instead of ‘Roman Reigns just speared Braun Strowman.'”

In an interesting move, it appears female WWE broadcaster Renee Young will work as a member of the Crown Jewel announce team this Friday. The news comes courtesy of Pro Wrestling Sheet. 

It was originally believed that no female talent including superstars or on-air talent wouldn’t be making the trip to Saudi Arabia for the event, but that has changed as WWE started working in September to make this happen after Young joined the announce team of the flagship show, Monday Night RAW. WWE has since received the green light to bring her out to the country.

As of this writing, WWE has yet to reveal the other members of the announce team but it will likely be called by Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on November 2nd, 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Saud University Stadium and will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card

Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman – Vacant WWE Universal Title Match

WWE Champion AJ Styles  vs. Daniel Bryan

Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Kane & The Undertaker

World Cup Tournament – Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley & Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler (RAW Side) Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz & Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (SmackDown Side)

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar vs. The New Day

Renee Young was originally hired as a backstage interviewer for NXT, but she has climbed the ranks pretty fast and has now became a permanent part of Raw’s commentary team.

During a recent interview with the Mirror, the Raw Star talked about a lot of things, including how the commentary has changed over the years and more.

Talking about Dean Ambrose’s matches and segments on Raw, Young said that people know they are married and she has a little bit more info than the other commentators, but they try not to beat them over the head.

When asked if she would like to follow the footsteps of Paige and become the General Manager of Raw someday, Renee Young said that she would love to do that:

“Would I like to do that? Oh my God, actually, I would love to do that. The way that I’m watching Paige navigate being the general manager of SmackDown, it looks like it’s so much fun. Who gets to yell at Samoa Joe and kind of put a little bit of fear in his eyes? Not a lot of people get to do that. If that was an opportunity that came down my way, I would definitely wear that hat, that would be really, really fun.”

Would you like to see Renee Young becoming the Raw General Manager somewhere down the line? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

The WWE Universe is glad to have Dean Ambrose back on TV. “The Lunatic Fringe” suffered a tricep injury in December that sidelined him for several months. The road back to the squared circle was a hard one for Ambrose. It took him nearly nine months to make his WWE TV return.

Following surgery, Ambrose went through extensive rehab to get himself back into shape. In fact, he put on a bit of muscle and looks better than ever upon making his return last month. Following his initial surgery in December, however, Ambrose encountered a big problem.

Ambrose’s Scary Health Issues

He suffered an infection from the surgery and needed to be operated on once again to clean it out. After that, Ambrose went through a grueling time and was forced to take antibiotics for months. His wife, Monday Night commentator Renee Young, detailed the “scary” ordeal during an appearance on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ podcast, The Ross Report:

“He ended up having to go back in and having another surgery on his arm. He tore his tricep and went for surgery in December. And then, I remember him calling me New Year’s Day, we had a show in Miami [Florida]. RAW was in Miami and his arm was bleeding everywhere.

“He woke up and there was blood all over the bed and he was so confused by what happened, not being able to fully get a look at what happened to his arm. He kept bandaging it up to get it to reseal as quickly as possible this opening that happened in his arm.

“So he eventually had to go back to Birmingham [Alabama], which is where he had his surgery initially, just for a check in, and that’s when they realized his infection had escalated a lot.

“They had to go back in and clean it out. He was on antibiotics for months! It was really scary, just knowing the severity.” Young said. “It was really tough to see somebody that you love go through something like that, especially somebody like Dean who is this indestructible force and to see him down and out with something like that, it was… yeah, it was tough to go through.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsdhhNvMsAE

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Renee Young has made strides in her WWE broadcasting career. Getting her start as a backstage interviewer for several years, Young has now made history. She is the first woman to be added to the Monday Night RAW commentary team full-time. Young has received a ton of support from the professional wrestling community for the feat.

Although she wasn’t full-time at the time, Young was even on the RAW commentary team when her husband, Dean Ambrose, made his WWE TV return. During the moment, however, Young didn’t say much. She explained why in a recent interview with Yahoo:

“That was by design. I think it made more sense because I knew for Dean, he had been waiting for almost nine months, and it was a huge, huge moment for him.

“Anything that I would have said in that moment would not have added. It was great just to sit back and see him in that moment. My heart was full for him.”

WWE Universe Loves Renee Young

Young is almost universally loved by WWE fans. She has done a nice job on commentary, and prior to that, was an excellent host for WWE pre-show panels. Not to mention her stellar work as a backstage interviewer. Young is in awe of the love she receives from the WWE Universe:

“I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve that. We live in such a finicky world where everyone just wants to hate everything. Everyone always has a comment on something. To be held in a nice light is mind-boggling. I owe everybody a round of drinks.”

Young’s rise within WWE couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. With the Women’s Revolution being one of the company’s top priorities at the moment, Young is playing a major role:

“I feel so proud, really, getting to help lead that march. I know there’s a long road ahead of me and there’s a lot of work that I need to do to really do this justice. It’s a big job, and I’m so excited to do that work.”

Renee Young continues to make the media rounds to talk about WWE promoting her from a backstage interviewer and pre-show host to being a full-time member of the announce team for their flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

After filling in Jonathan Coachman while he was on assignment two weeks ago, it was revealed last Monday that she would be a full-time commentator on the show by replacing Coachman to join Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

Young recently spoke with The Toronto Sun to talk about the accomplishment where she noted that this is a really cool opportunity and that her life has changed so much over the last six years with WWE. She added that to have this opportunity in front of her, she just wants to do the best job that she can do.

She also gave some high praise to top WWE executives including Cole, executive VP of Television Production Kevin Dunn, Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, as well as Executive VP of Talent, Live Events and Creative Triple H.

“Michael Cole has been there from literally the get-go,” Young said. “He’s somebody that I’ve leaned on many different times. He’s a great mentor, a great friend. Triple H is so open to new ideas and just seeing what people can bring to the table. He’s so great at helping people with the skill that they have and letting that flourish. The same with Stephanie McMahon. She’s been so great for all of the women in WWE to set them up for success. Kevin Dunn as well. He always makes time for me no matter what’s going on.”

As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center and will air on the WWE Network. You can see our staff predictions here.

WWE has released video of Raw commentator Renee Young’s 2012 job audition. The clip has been added to the WWE Network as part of the Hidden Gems section. As seen below, Renee Young was given a pet grooming product and instructed to “sell” it” as a way to gauge her screen presence and improvisational speaking skills.

Meet @ReneeYoungWWE: EXPERT pet groomer.

It's the newest @WWENetwork HIDDEM GEM! pic.twitter.com/8qKLGGkb7u

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) September 13, 2018

WWE and Renee Young

While Renee Young has been with the company since 2012, she has actually been working as a host for WWE programming longer than that. Young hosted “Aftermath” on the channel now known as Sportsnet 360 in Toronto. Aftermath is a post-game show for WWE programming aired on the channel.

Young had been taking classes at the Second City Training Center down the block from the station in 2009 when she was hired to work on the show.

WWE and Weird Broadcaster Auditions

Young is not the only person WWE asked to sell a random product as part of an audition. Long before he was the President of WCW, Eric Bischoff auditioned for WWE once as well. The 83 Weeks host was asked to sell a broom. WWE opted not to hire Bischoff after his audition in 1990.

After 6 years with the company, WWE recently announced Renee Young as the first full-time female broadcaster in the history of Monday Night Raw.

Former WWE star Sean “X-Pac” Waltman took to his podcast, X-Pac 12360, to talk about Renee Young joining the RAW commentary team. Young is the first woman in WWE history to join the RAW commentary team on a full-time basis. She has been announced as Jonathan Coachman’s replacement.

Shortly after the announcement, Young received a ton of support from the professional wrestling community on Twitter. It’s a big step for the Women’s Revolution that WWE has been pushing lately. Waltman says that WWE made a smart move in adding Young to the commentary team.

Not only was the move, obviously, made to push women’s empowerment, but Young is actually good at it:

“It’s no surprise to me that smart people in the WWE realized this is a really good move,” Waltman said. “It’s not just because [she’s female], yeah part of it is obviously the empowerment of women, but she’s really good at it!

“You don’t want people being put in positions just because they’re a woman. Because I don’t think that does any good for the movement at all. So, you get capable women that are really good at what they do and you give them a shot to do things. And that’s what this is, and it’s great! And I hope she continues to do a great job.”

The September 10th edition of RAW featured Renee Young as the first woman to be a permanent member of the RAW broadcast team, putting her behind the same microphone used by such WWE commentator greats as Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Ross, Jesse” The Body” Ventura, Bobby Heenan, Jerry Lawler and even Vince McMahon himself. And I couldn’t be happier about it!

To qualify this; I spent 10+ years behind and in front of broadcast desks working in radio and TV news and talk shows. I learned from and saw how the greats of the industry did it and I can say without a doubt, there is a certain “it” factor to being a good broadcaster. It’s not just about being knowledgeable in what you’re talking about, it’s finding a connection with an audience and using it. A good broadcaster makes you feel like it’s just you and them in the room. Let me say, with all certainty, Renee Young is a good broadcaster.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Young (real name: Renee Paquette) had a brief flirtation with being an actress, but eventually became a host on The Score television network. On the Score, she hosted a show called Right After Wrestling (later renamed Aftermath) with Arda Ocal, Mauro Ranallo and former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas. She performed this and other hosting duties with The Score until signing with the WWE in 2012. It was easy to see that even then, Young had the spark and connection with the viewer that one needs to succeed.

The long list of men that have held the commentator position on WWE programming is like a who’s who of pro wrestling minds. Each one brought with them a signature tone, style and bucketful of terribly wonderful Dad Jokes to add colour and excitement to the matches we watched. Renee Young’s addition to the Commentator team is not important because she can perform like these legends. It’s important because she’s the exact opposite of them.

One of the biggest challenges the WWE faces these days is becoming stagnant. Recycled matches, a dependency on Part-Timers and Legends and storylines that seem to drag on and into nowhere are contributing factors to what makes RAW a difficult 3-hours to slog through on most occasions. Couple this with over 15 years of ear-fed commentary that, more often than not, takes away from the action instead of enhancing it, and the commentators or “hosts” of the show become a big part of the problem.

The commentary team on RAW saw a bit of a shot in the arm with the addition of Corey Graves, who’s proved himself to be quite capable behind the mic, but who’s role lately seems to have been relegated to snidely making fun of his co-hosts, while the oblivious Micheal Cole seems to be simply repeating things he’s told to say more often than not.

What Young brings to the table are three things:

1. A woman’s perspective, which is hugely important as we see Women’s Wrestling taking more of a central role in the show (thank goodness!)
2. A fresh, modern, voice, not just in opinion and comment, but also in tone, delivery and timbre. Her voice is strong, confident and stands out amongst the rest of the team. You NOTICE when she talks and thus, listen and are more engaged.
3. The experience of being a capital-B Broadcaster. Much like Mauro Ranallo on NXT (who coincidentally worked with Young at The Score) she knows and understands delivery, connection and how to get her point across clearly and effectively.

In September 2013, Young was given a shot at being a full-time color commentator on NXT. This lasted for several months, and I was extremely impressed by her ability and found myself more engaged in matches and wanting to hear what she thought. Rene did not disappoint. Now, 5 years later, her addition to the RAW commentary team is an excellent move. Not only because she’s a woman and appeals to wider audience, but also because she’s good at what she does. Very good.

Last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW marked Renee Young’s first as a full-time commentator.

Young was announced as Jonathan Coachman’s replacement at the commentary booth for the red brand. Since the news broke, Young has received a lot of support from the professional wrestling community.

Of course, not all were in favor of the decision it seems. ECW Legend Sabu took to his Twitter account and posted a rather controversial Tweet about Young. Sabu has since deleted the Tweet, but you can check out the screenshot below.

(WARNING: language is explicit)

“Lol oh boy I offended some one again .. lol wtf?”

Soon after deleting the Tweet, Sabu followed up with this:

https://twitter.com/TerryBrunk/status/1039537644244365312

When reading the comments, it’s clear that Sabu lost a lot of fans for his remarks. As for Young, she has yet to respond to Sabu’s comments and will likely ignore the matter.

Discussion: What do you think about Sabu’s Tweet on Renee Young? Let us know in the comments section below!

Renee Young is now a full-time member of the Monday Night Raw broadcast team. After calling two episodes earlier this summer, Young has been named as a permanent replacement for Jonathan Coachman at the booth.

Young will be Raw’s first female broadcaster to work the announce booth on a full-time basis. Jonathan Coachman has been removed from the Raw team and will now work the pay-per-view Kickoff panels.

Renee Young commented on the news, “I am so so so insanely excited about this! To be the first woman to take over that chair that so many amazingly talented voices and personalities have sat in before me! Thank you to Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, TripleH, Michael Cole, Corey Graves and MANY others.”

Coachman, meanwhile, offered sincere congratulations to Renee.

A sincere congratulations to @ReneeYoungWWE for a much deserved move to the table on Raw. To be part of a team means understanding your strengths and using them to help the team grow. I have always embraced with positivity any role asked of me. That will not change.

— The Coach (@Thecoachrules) September 10, 2018

WWE’s Announcement

“Starting tonight, Renee Young will join Michael Cole and Corey Graves each week on Raw,” WWE’s press release states. “Young started with WWE in 2012 and has served as a backstage interviewer and commentator on Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT. She is currently part of the Mae Young Classic commentary team on WWE Network. Prior to WWE, Young worked at The Score Television Network in Canada, building her reputation by co-hosting WWE Aftermath and interviewing high-caliber talent such as The Rolling Stones on other programming.”

Young was a popular host of “Aftermath” on the Score in Canada from 2009-2012. The show continues to exist as a post-WWE show on Sportsnet 360. Young was then hired by WWE in 2012 and has worked commentary previously for NXT and WWE Superstars.

Reactions from the Wrestling World

Work hard and you will be rewarded. Simple but true. Tonight will be a top 5 highlight in my 22 year career. Congrats @ReneeYoungWWE

— Michael Cole (@MichaelCole) September 10, 2018

I am so proud of @ReneeYoungWWE for becoming the first ever female commentator on #RAW! #YouDeserveIt! I can’t wait to hear her perspective every Monday Night! #Evolution pic.twitter.com/KAkxAvSPVm

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) September 10, 2018

Congrats @ReneeYoungWWE #BreakingBarriers https://t.co/1e4iu8DtQN

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) September 10, 2018

Yo @ReneeYoungWWE out here doing work. Praise be! https://t.co/BvtiiBou0G

— Austin Creed (@AustinCreedWins) September 10, 2018

Kweeeennnn!!!!!! So deserving!!! Love her to pieces! Slayyyy @ReneeYoungWWE https://t.co/8aWH6RwxoG

— Lina Fanene (@LinaFanene) September 10, 2018

I would like to think I had a hand in pushing this talented individual to lock down a more stable income for her household, but this isn’t about me. Congrats Renee. https://t.co/l7Ch5xZFhS

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) September 10, 2018

WOOOOOW congrats @ReneeYoungWWE !!! She is now permanently announcing Monday Night Raw!!! Proud of you friend!!! So deserved

— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) September 10, 2018

To the surprise and joy of many WWE fans, Renee Young was back on commentary for the this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Columbus, OH at the Schottenstein Center on the USA Network.

She joined Corey Graves and Michael Cole on the commentary team where she filled in for Jonathan Coachman, who is usually part of the team. It was noted on the broadcast of the show that the reason for Coachman’s absence was due to him not being there was because he was “on assignment”.

For those who are wondering why he wasn’t there, it’s due to him filming content for the Golf Channel at the WinStar World Casino and Resort. Prior to the show, Coachman took to his official Instagram account to note that Young is only replacing him for the show this week. He wrote the following:

“Done with our night shoot at the @winstar_world as we get set for our 2 night event starting Tuesday and Wednesday 9et on @golf channel. Going to be fun.”

https://instagram.com/p/BnP7HF-gkE0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control

This isn’t the first time that Coachman has missed the show due to other commitments as Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has done commentary in the past to fill in.

WWE broadcaster Renee Young is sporting a few new tattoos. Last week, Renee Young made history by becoming the first woman in history to call a full episode of Monday Night Raw. She got rave reviews for her performance, with many fans arguing she would make a much better fit for the position than Jonathan Coachman.

As you now, the WWE crew has been in New York City since late last week for SummerSlam weekend. After two huge back-to-back shows at the Barclays Center for NXT Takeover and SummerSlam, WWE returns to the venue for tonight’s RAW and Tuesday’s SmackDown Live.

On Monday, Renee Young revealed on Instagram that she spent several hours at Snow Tattoo in Tribeca getting some new ink. Visit SarahGaugler.com for more on ”
New York’s multifaceted contemporary female creative.”

Renee worked with artist Sarah Gaugler on two new pieces: a stylized crescent moon on her right bicep and what appears to be the collision emoji (?) behind her right ear.

Check out Renee Young’s Instagram page (and her “story”) to see more photos of her new tattoos. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmtY5lcngIu/?taken-by=reneeyoungwwe